San Francisco 49ers content to be patient with QB Jimmy Garoppolo

By

Eric Gilmore, The Sports Xchange

San Francisco 49ers new acquisition quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo warms up to play the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California on November 5, 2017. Garoppolo was just obtained from the New England Patriots. File photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo

Garoppolo, however, spent the day on the sideline, watching starting quarterback C.J. Beathard take a beating behind an injury-depleted offensive line in a gutty performance during a 20-10 loss to the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan said he planned to keep Garoppolo on the sideline unless Beathard had to leave the game with an injury.

"You got a bunch of guys out there and you're trying to get through it," Shanahan said. "To just throw out a quarterback who has had three practices with extremely limited reps with an unfamiliar offense, it's kind of an unfair position to put him in.

"I'm looking week-to-week right now. We'll see how these injuries pan out. We've got two quarterbacks on our roster. I'd love to give both of them a chance to play this year, and I'd love to get Jimmy in eventually. But a lot of stuff is going to go into that factor. Hopefully we can get healthy and hopefully we can give Jimmy a chance to pick up this stuff as he goes."

Cardinals inside linebacker Karlos Dansby reached a rare NFL milestone when he intercepted a Beathard pass late in the fourth quarter. The interception was the 20th of Dansby's career to go with 42 sacks. He became the fifth player in NFL history with at least 40 sacks and 20 interceptions.

Dansby didn't have to work too hard for his 20th interception. Beathard's first-and-goal pass from the 9 deflected off left tackle Trent Brown's helmet, popped into the air and went right to Dansby, who intercepted at the Arizona 7 and returned it four yards with 2:28 remaining in the game.

"That was perfect timing," Dansby said. "He threw it right into his offensive lineman's helmet and I said, 'It can't be that easy to get (No.) 20.' But it was perfect, perfect timing, perfect scenario. Stage was set."

After carrying a career-high 37 times for 159 yards, Cardinals running back Adrian Peterson won't have much time for his body to recover before Arizona's next game. The Cardinals host Seattle on Thursday night.

"He's in unbelievable shape, and we'll see how he feels Monday and Tuesday," Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said. "But I wish we had a full week. Obviously we won't be able to feed him that many times in that Thursday night (game) that quickly."

Peterson said he'll "feel good" when it's time to play Thursday night.

Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald had five receptions for 70 yards Sunday and passed Tim Brown for sixth place on the all-time yardage list with 14,953. Brown has 14,934. The next three on the list are Tony Gonzalez (15,127), Issac Bruce (15,208) and Randy Moss (15,292).